But sometimes, it’s the breach of “micro-commitments” that turns a client off.

This happened to Chris, who runs a web development firm. Overall, they’re terrific. Solid problem-solvers. Efficient. Current with latest developments. They don’t come cheap, but they’re reliable. Mostly.

Then, a couple of clients left to use another firm. They weren’t huge clients, but Chris prides himself on customer service … so this felt like a slap in the face.

Together, we dissectedthe pattern of client relationships. At first, everything was great. The clients needed changes to their websites and Chris promised it could be done within a week. But his team forgot to create support tickets. Then they moved offices. Then they got derailed by a huge project. Etc. etc.

Each of which is understandable … and we’re all human.

But guess what still wasn’t done?

If Chris had said can’t get to it for a month, the client’s expectations would have been managed better. Even sorry, that’s not part of our contract/skill set/size of project we want to take on— would have been fair. And clear.